DeviantArt has reportedly raised $3.5 million in Series A funding, with DivX Inc. as a listed shareholder.
The artists community was founded in 2000, and has over 1 million unique visitors a day. It's long been a popular network for artists including photographers, painters and animators. DeviantArt earns revenue through ads, selling ad-free subscriptions to members, and taking a percentage of art sold through the site. Considering the existing stability and effect of DeviantArt, I'm surprised it took this long for the company to raise funding.
No word yet on what DeviantArt plans to do with the money. with about 60,000 submissions a day, the funding could go towards server costs, or enabling a better e-commerce structure for its members. Perhaps DeviantArt would like to implement a marketing strategy, execute some verticals or acquire a smaller competitor. Other artists communities include AmateurIllustrator, ImageKind, and ArtFlock, among many, many others.